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J.K. Rowling keep open changingHarry Pottercanon to improve theFantastic Beastsseries , but her efforts have mostly had the opposite effect . Rowling ’s originalHarry Potternovel , Harry Potter and the Philosopher ’s Stone(or , as it ’s known in the U.S.,The Sorcerer ’s Stone ) , took the world by storm when it reach bookshelf in 1997 , and kick off an entire serial publication of books about the young boy wizard ’s adventures . The firstHarry Pottermovie version hit theaters soon after 2001 and was an equally massive succeeder at the global box agency . A further seven films were eject after that and combine for a total world gross of $ 7.7 billion .
Unsurprisingly , in the years since The Boy Who Lived ’s saga close , the larger dealership ( now hump as the Wizarding World ) has expanded . It now encompasses base park land , video games , the prescribed Pottermore website , a sequel play titledHarry Potter and the Cursed Child , and a serial of prequel films about magizoologist Newt Scamander ( aka . theFantastic Beastsseries ) . In that same sentence , Rowling has work tirelessly to amplify the Wizarding World mythology , including the universe ’s account and the backstories of its many , manycharacters . And yet , if anything , Rowling seems to have hurtHarry Potter ’s continuity more than enrich it .
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Indeed , it seems like every time Rowling bring out something new about the Wizarding World , especially inFantastic savage , the reply is anything but positive . However , to understand why that is , one has to go back in sentence to a point when Rowling ’s modification to theHarry Pottercanon lean to be better received . Here ’s whyJ.K. Rowling keeps changingHarry Pottercanon , and how it ’s affected the larger franchise .
J.K. Rowling Has Been Adding to Harry Potter Canon For Years
Back in 2007 , Rowling surprised the world by bring out that Harry ’s beloved Hogwarts headmaster , Albus Dumbledore , was , in fact , gay . The announcement was mostly well - receive by many at the meter , who applauded the writer for making such an essential graphic symbol in the franchise canonically thwart . At the same time , even back then , some people questioned if Rowling would ever actually address Dumbledore ’s sexuality explicitly in a Wizarding World script and/or photographic film . After all , the sevenHarry Potternovels had all been published by then , and there was n’t much grounds to suspect that the remaining films would include anything on the theme that was n’t already in the generator material . Over the years that follow ( pre - Fantastic Beasts),Rowling ’s proclamation about Dumbledorecame to feel a bit hollow , like a hope that would never really be fulfilled . Dumbledore ’s sexuality was at long last revealed inFantastic Beasts : The Secrets of Dumbledore , but only after carry on outcry from the public .
Since then , Rowling has continued to flesh out the Wizarding World in other ways , ranging from major reveals about the existence of other wizarding shoal around the world to minor lineament details , like Ravenclaw educatee Anthony Goldstein being Judaic . Harry Potter and the Cursed Child(which is based on a story that Rowling conscientious objector - wrote ) took thing a step further and reveal that Voldemort — the chief villain of theHarry Potterseries — had conceive a tike with his faithful retainer , Bellatrix Lestrange , before his expiry .
Still , theFantastic Beastsmovies ( which are being write by Rowling andHarry Potterscreenwriter Steve Kloves ) have arguably made the most striking change and amendments to theHarry Pottercanon yet . So far , the more substantial alterations include the reveal that Voldemort ’s snakeNagini was in reality a Maledictus(that is , a shape - shift human who finally became for good trapped in their snake form ) , McGonagall ’s timeline , and the revelation that Credence is Aberforth Dumbledore ’s long - lose son .
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These Changes Make the Wizarding World More Inclusive
It ’s generally been obvious why Rowling retain contribute young twists to theHarry Pottercanon : it ’s an endeavor on her part to make the franchise more inclusive , when it comes to race and sex in finicky . While the originalHarry Potterbooks and moving-picture show included mass of colour ( Parvati and Padma Patil , Kingsley Shacklebolt , Cho Chang ) , they were all defend characters who represent smaller roles in the series ' overarching narration . The movies were comparatively more inclusive than the novels when it came to race , confessedly , and would cast actors of various ethnicities to help fill out the Hall of Hogwarts . Nevertheless , the admirer were all bloodless ( as wereimportant player like Neville Longbottomand Luna Lovegood ) , and there were n’t any openly funny case at the meter . Even Dumbledore ’s orientation was limited to beforeFantastic Beasts 3 .
For the most part , this was n’t unusual when Rowling was writing theHarry Potterbooks . In fact , she probably was n’t even considering diverseness of race and sexuality all that much when she was crafting her novels , and she sure enough was n’t receive feedback on the matter from critic the elbow room she has in the year since then . Rowling ’s attempt to correct this takings have n’t been limited to mentioning detail aboutHarry Pottercharacters after the fact . The writer has incorporated people of people of colour into herFantastic Beastsscripts too , with the more notable examples includingLeta Lestrange ( Zoë Kravitz)and Nagini , who ’s play by South Korea - born actress Claudia Kim . At the same metre , Rowling has been criticized for cut back these characters to supporting function ( like in theHarry Potterstories ) , giving them extremely debatable backstories , or doing little more than paying lip divine service to her critic .
The Original Harry Potter Books Were Limited in Scope
Another part of the reasonableness that theHarry Potternovels were n’t as inclusive asFantastic Beastsis because they were , quite literally , limited in scope . The books were all about Harry and unfolded almost entirely from his position , with a few exception . As such , the story tended to concenter on the same locations over and over again , be it Harry ’s dwelling house with his relatives , the Dursleys , his sojourn to the Weasley family dwelling , The Burrow , or his uncommon slip to Wizarding locations outside of Hogwarts ( the Ministry of Magic , Hogsmeade , Diagon Alley ) . Moreover , if Harry did n’t discover something about the Wizarding World explicitlyin the story ( via lessons at Hogwarts or from someone telling him ) , then the books merely did n’t treat it . This mostly seemed to gain Rowling ’s humans - building efforts and made it easier for her to fill in the details of Harry ’s subjective worldview .
As the Wizarding World has expanded , Rowling has turn her attention aside from simply telling one mortal ’s story to fill up out an entire universe of history , traditional knowledge , and terminology . For example , theFantastic Beastsfilms have move well beyond the British setting of the originalHarry Potternovels to explore what life was like for wizards in New York , Paris , Berlin , and Bhutan back in the 1920s and XXX . likewise , Rowling has filled her internet site Pottermore with factoids and bits of information about the wizarding community in continents like North and South America , as well as the part of Europe that herHarry Potterbooks never visited . unluckily , she ’s arguably been guilty of being sloppy with her reality - construction and lazily set aside elements from real - world cultural myths and legend throughout her efforts to flesh out the Wizarding World . And if that was n’t enough , it seems like she ca n’t stop herself from doing so .
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J.K. Rowling Is Addicted To Adding Harry Potter Lore
Now that theHarry Potterfranchise has become " the Wizarding World , " it ’s inflate well beyond the seven - account book story that Rowling initially set out to tell . The problem is , in the process of write more and more details about the existence and its characters to flesh the worldly concern out , Rowling has apparently dug a trap for herself that she keeps make deeper , the more she reveals . Some of these problem are only noticeable to hardcoreHarry Potteraudiences , like howProfessor McGonagall being a teacherat Hogwarts in the secondFantastic Beastsmovie , The Crimes of Grindelwald , is a conspicuous contradiction of the survive canyon ( to explain : the cinema takes place eight year before McGonagall was born ) . Or how Nagini was stick in and then scrapped forFantastic Beasts 3 . Others , by comparing , are mostly just funny , like Rowling ’s revelation that — before the introduction of plumbing — Hogwarts students would go to the lavatory by relieving themselves in public and then using magic to vanish the , er , evidence .
While buff like to jest about Rowling and her substance abuse of revealing uncanny or categorical - out cockamamy details about the Wizarding World without any prompt , they ’re also justifiably frustrated by her shortcomings in better representation in the franchise . Dumbledore ’s gender was barely even subtext in theHarry Potterbooks , and theFantastic Beastsmovies refused to research thatDumbledore and Grindelwald had a intimate relationshipwhen they were younger until the previous installment , as Rowling now claim . That ’s to mention nothing of the franchise ’s issues regarding backwash and destine its non - blanched characters to horrible destiny ( see Nagini and Leta ) , while only going so far as to develop their personalities and storylines . It ’s unmanageable for Rowling to course - correct at this point too , which is why it feel like she ca n’t stop build on the flawed foundation that she herself laid down .
Fantastic Beasts 3 Ruined Harry Potter Canon Even More
marvellous savage : The Secrets of Dumbledorewas a vital bankruptcy that nosedived at the box office , showing that people are n’t occupy these canon change softly . sure as shooting , there are several reason whyFantastic Beasts 3didn’t execute well , despite doing better than its harbinger . Mads Mikkelsen ’s carrying out as Grindelwald was a highlight of the cinema , but it ’s not enough to save the dealership . fantastical Beasts 4still has n’t been picked up , and withDavid Yates now slate to direct another undertaking , chances are looking svelte and slimmer that the series will keep . The controversy ring Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller surely did n’t help theFantastic Beastsmovies . Nonetheless , the story is coil out of restraint .
J.K. Rowling tump over many mass when she brought in Nagini and McGonagall . While Nagini ’s narrative , in particular , is challenging , Rowling impart new canon selective information by introduce a Maledictus , then scrap her from the storyline entirely . Tina ’s want of mien was also noted inFantastic Beasts 3 , as she bug out out as a strong fictitious character in the first two pic but only show up for the final fit in the third . critic have pannedThe Secrets of Dumbledorefor being too difficult to follow without at least one more rewatch — which is whatThe Crimes of Grindelwaldwas criticized for . It ’s clear-cut that theseHarry Pottercanon change are n’t auspicate well , andFantastic Beasts 3 ’s reception only illustrate that .
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